2013 Influential Women

Congratulations to all our winners for 2013. The Mecklenburg Times was proud to host the fifth annual 50 Most Influential Women dinner and awards presentation to recognize the important role women play in the Greater Charlotte region, the economy and society. The honorees represent the most influential women in business, government, education, and nonprofit fields. They are selected by a panel of business leaders based on professional accomplishment and community involvement.

Christine John-Fuller cannot just go to a wedding. She has spent so much of her life organizing events that she can’t help herself. She squirms in her seat as she watches people walking down the aisle. She wants to rearrange ...

When a situation or circumstance doesn’t go Joan Zimmerman’s way, she never considers it a failure. “To me,” she says, “it is just something that didn’t work out quite the way I anticipated.” But the most important career move in ...

Cindy Wolfe is a financial market leader in a city known for great banks. As president of the Bank of the Ozarks Charlotte metro market, Wolfe seven years ago pioneered the bank’s entry into Charlotte as a loan-production center. Despite ...

Lisa Wigfall spent 18 years as a medical social worker helping people meet their basic needs. Along the way she discovered significant numbers of people who were underserved or simply falling off the radar. The most prevalent cases were heterosexual ...

As a 14-year-old candy striper at a local hospital in Appleton, Wis., Liza Tyler learned the value of giving back. “I would ride my bike there to volunteer,” she says. “I have always had a passion for helping others.” Today, ...

Katie Tyler thrives in the dog-eat-dog world of construction, but Tyler’s world really is not as cutthroat as it sounds. She simply loves dogs. She loves her construction company too, and has found a way to merge her pet passions ...

Relationships define Cheryl Steele’s life and her career. On the day Steele’s father died, her mother had a breakdown, and Steele and her siblings went to live with their grandmother. Steele was 14. “My entire world changed that day,” she ...

As a child, Sherie Pearsall wanted to be an athlete. Throughout her growing-up years, she was good at sports, running track and playing volleyball and basketball from seventh grade through college. She was always a high achiever. “I began working ...

Even Nancy Nestor’s experience as a talented special-education teacher could not prepare her for the challenges she faced when her son was diagnosed with autism. “My skill was to help those with disabilities make progress, despite their academic limitations,” she ...